Gillette is the world leader in the system shaving blades with a close & tight competition from Bic in the disposable shaving blades segment, Bic never tried to enter the system segment but imposed itself as leader in the lighters category and here they come competing with “Mega Lighter”, to be present more and more in every household.

The alkaline batteries category is an ongoing worldwide battle between Duracell and Energizer, 2 major US brands, with little competition from Rayovac (USA), Varta (Germany) and Panasonic (Japan).

The market share fight is mainly located at check-outs in retail stores and in part at category killer toy stores.

For the last few years, the 2 major brands are running continuous and non-stop promotions by offering free batteries on their main and most selling SKUs, which are the AA and AAA sizes.

These on-going promotions are not only to gain market shares but also a strategic move to stop worldwide parallel market sales from low priced to higher marginal markets.

IPT, a Lebanese chain of fuel stations is being in non-stop action for the last few years on almost all of their locations. IPT fully owns, manage and supervise a network of over 30 gas stations, they also signed exclusive petroleum supply agreements with more than 130 gas stations across Lebanon.

IPT is taking gas station experience to another level, after introducing Mountain Mudd Espresso, the leading drive-thru specialty coffee franchises in the United States, they partnered with another fast food sector giant, McDonald’s, with dine-in and drive-thru options at many locations.

Yet another step made by IPT was into the retail world when they partnered with Metro Superstore, a Lebanese supermarket with 2 outlets (Maameltein and Chiah) and started opening Metro Express convenience store at many IPT locations (Amchit, Halat, Dekwaneh, Zouk).

Zouk Mikael store opened almost a month ago, it is a clean and neat store offering a quite large selection of basic products and a fresh section with sandwiches, salads and fresh juices. I would like to revisit after some time to check if the level of quality is maintained.

After the arrival of Meetic and McDonald’s Euro2012 campaign in its portfolio, DDB continues to gain momentum. And after several weeks of competition, the agency won the communication of Playboy Fragrances, a brand of Coty.

The first TV, print, POS and digital actions should be launched early 2012 and will be managed worldwide from Paris.

Driven by passion, innovation, creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit, Coty has built a unique portfolio of brands. With offices in more than 30 countries and a strong presence in 90 markets, Coty successfully brings to market its brands faster, further and freer than most other beauty companies.